Bring your palate to Pikesville these days and you won't be disappointed.
Here, in the northwest quadrant of Baltimore County, a national culinary trend known as gourmet kosher is simmering, as local chefs and even grocers concoct dishes and offer goods that reflect an emerging industry worth $3 billion.
And once you've had a sweet potato knish, kosher gumbo or a rabbinically sanctioned plate of pasta topped with spicy tomato sauce, there's no going back to that tired old jar of gefilte fish.
"Look, Welch's grape juice just came out kosher -- never before in the history of mankind," marveled Enid Friedman, owner of Mirakle Mart, a kosher-only grocery in the 6800 block of Reisterstown Road that boasts 17,000 products.
"Even Utz has just come out with a kosher potato chip," Friedman said. "These products give the kosher consumer the opportunity to enjoy foods fully."
The vogue sweeping Pikesville's main artery of delis and restaurants is national -- the number of kosher food products on the market is estimated to have increased to 38,000 from 17,000 a decade ago.
"Ten years ago, the kosher selection was very limited," said Menachem Lubinsky, president of Integrated Marketing Communications, a New York-based organization specializing in
the kosher and Jewish market. "There was more of an appeal to produce the basic staples.
"Then the number of consumers changed. We are looking at $3 billion in market goods in the last five years -- that is growing at a rate of 5 percent [per year]."
A kosher designation means each product is sanctioned according to Jewish dietary laws that originate in the Old Testament. Kosher kitchens must be certified by a rabbi, are immaculate and have separate sets of dishes and cookware for meat and dairy products -- and the two must never mix.
Kosher foods, in turn, are subjected to high standards. Animals must be slaughtered according to a ritual, produce grown under purified conditions and dairy products made according to ultrahigh standards.
Restrictions on producing kosher products limited the creativity
of so-called designer foods -- until recently.
Now, the delectable goods available surprise many a food maven and delight a new generation of kosher consumers that includes Jews, Muslims and even health enthusiasts.
So, welcome kosher curry dishes, ravioli, balsamic vinegar and, yes, a caviar substitute.
Will noshing ever be the same?
